Tip of My Iceberg

I make it a habit to try and exercise daily. It wakes me up and puts me in a mood to approach the day with anticipation. Between that and Jesus, I’m good to go.

Unless I’m playing weekend warrior–on a week day no less–and don’t listen to what my body is telling me.

I’ve done yoga for years. Not gentle but rigorous. It pushes me past easy to try harder. Hang fluidity.

I hadn’t done it in months–I’d been focused more on cardio and strength workouts.

I woke up Friday feeling the need for a good stretch. I found my yoga DVD and began.

The first thing they do is warn you of pushing too hard. Of doing things that are uncomfortable for joints and muscles. To make it a sustainable workout, they broke it into three sections. You begin with one then add the other two on successive weeks as your body becomes familiar with the routine.

Me wait? I’ve done this before. It might have been eight or ten months since the last time I’d tried it, but I was sure I could pull it off. I’m strong.

So I did all three sections.

Somewhere in the third section, something felt odd. Not like it was supposed to feel. I stood up.

Or tried to.

I’d done something to my back. Threw it out somehow. And I couldn’t take a deep breath.

Which meant all I wanted to do was take a deep breath.

It hurt. So much so that I cancelled my schedule for the day.

And stayed in a prone position.

Not my cup of tea.

John has told me often that I’m a lousy patient. I get it. I don’t follow advice well. I didn’t want to stay flat. I tried to do things.

Only to have my breathing bring me up short because of pain.

The embarrassing part is that I wasn’t doing anything difficult. It’s not like I did it helping someone move. Or doing yard work. Or something even slightly noble.

It was yoga.

I get tripped up by little things in life. The big challenges I plan for. Prepare for. The small things catch me off guard.

God gets that. In my walk of faith it’s not the big faith challenges that stop me in my tracks.

It’s the small things that happen daily that frustrate me. The mosquito bites of life that annoy me.

“If you are faithful in little things, you will be faithful in large ones. But if you are dishonest in little things, you won’t be honest with greater responsibilities.”   Luke 16:10

It’s the daily details of living that I need to focus on. Doing the minor tasks of life well. Caring that I show up with integrity and genuineness with everyone I encounter. Not just waiting for the big events. The next grand thing.

Choosing to live with Jesus in the mundane moment.

Maybe then I won’t be so thrown out of whack and I’ll face the tough challenges with character.

And strength.